JP5666348B2 - Light distribution control device for vehicle headlamp - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a light distribution control device for controlling the light distribution of a headlight of a vehicle such as an automobile, and in particular, controls the light distribution following a preceding vehicle such as a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle existing in a front area of the own vehicle. The present invention relates to a light distribution control device.

  ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam) control is one of the light distribution control devices that prevents the dazzling of the preceding and oncoming vehicles existing in the front area of the vehicle as a headlight of the automobile while improving the visibility of the front area. Some have adopted This ADB control detects a preceding vehicle such as a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle when performing light irradiation with a high beam light distribution, and blocks a region that may be dazzled with respect to the detected preceding vehicle, thereby dazzling the preceding vehicle. In order to improve visibility by illuminating the widest possible area of the front area of the vehicle. For example, Patent Document 1 detects a vehicle existing in front of the own vehicle, and configures a light distribution in which an additional light distribution is added to an area above the cut-off line of the low beam light distribution of the headlight of the own vehicle, The light distribution pattern is swiveled in the left-right direction corresponding to the preceding vehicle, thereby changing the cut-off line in the light distribution and improving the visibility of the front area of the host vehicle without dazzling the preceding vehicle.

JP 2010-957 A

In such ADB control, when changing from the oncoming vehicle or overtaking the preceding vehicle, cut-off line change control, here, the swivel control of the light distribution, the visibility of the front area of the host vehicle and the dazzling of the vehicle ahead are problems. May be. For example, when passing the oncoming vehicle on the right curve, the oncoming vehicle is first detected in the right direction and then gradually detected in the left direction. Swivel control is performed, but the detection position of the oncoming vehicle is displaced to the left at high speed as the vehicle enters the curve and is steered to the right. The oncoming vehicle is dazzled by the delay in swivel control at this time. This also applies to the left curve, because the oncoming vehicle that was first detected in the left direction is displaced to the right at a relatively high speed as the vehicle enters the curve and steers left. If the followability of swivel control is slow, the oncoming vehicle will be dazzled. In addition, since the same thing can be said about the dazzling with respect to the oncoming vehicle on such a curved road, the preceding vehicle may be dazzled by the delay of swivel control on the curved road.

On the other hand, if the swivel control follow-up speed is increased in order to solve such problems, the light distribution will change between each oncoming vehicle and the light distribution each time it passes each other when traveling on a straight road. A state in which swivel control is performed at high speed by reciprocating in the direction occurs, and such high-speed swivel control of light distribution makes the driver of the vehicle feel bothered. The same applies to the preceding vehicle. If swivel control is performed at high speed as the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle changes, the driver of the own vehicle will be bothered. In particular, when passing multiple oncoming vehicles on a straight road, there are many situations in which it passes with oncoming vehicles in a very short time period, so the switching cycle of light distribution and the cycle of reciprocating swivel are also shortened, and the driver feels troublesome. It becomes easy. As a result, the driver's concentration may be impaired, resulting in an obstacle to safe driving. Such a problem is not limited to swivel control, but also occurs when the light distribution pattern is switched to high beam light distribution, low beam light distribution, etc. following the vehicle ahead.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a light distribution control device capable of preventing dazzling of a preceding vehicle due to a delay in tracking control of light distribution and eliminating the inconvenience of light distribution control for a driver of the own vehicle. It is.

The present invention is a light distribution control device including means for detecting a vehicle position of a vehicle existing in front of the own vehicle and following and controlling the light distribution of the headlamp of the own vehicle following the detected change in the vehicle position. When the road condition ahead of the vehicle is determined and the road is determined to be a curved road, responsiveness control means for setting the speed for controlling the light distribution at a higher speed as the curve of the curved road becomes larger is provided. It is characterized by providing.

  The light distribution control device of the present invention comprises ADB control means for switching the light distribution pattern of the headlamp and swivel control means for swiveling the irradiation optical axis of the headlamp, and the responsiveness control means is the ADB control means. At least one of the light distribution pattern switching speed and the swivel control speed of the swivel control means is set. In the present invention, the means for following the light distribution is means for following the oncoming vehicle with a light blocking area provided in a part of the light distribution.

  According to the present invention, since the speed of switching the light distribution with respect to the change in the vehicle position is increased on the curved road, it is appropriate for the preceding vehicle even on the curved road where the relative position change with the own vehicle is fast. Light distribution can be maintained, and dazzling with respect to the vehicle ahead can be reliably prevented. On the other hand, it is possible to secure the illumination of the front area of the host vehicle and improve visibility. Further, since the speed of switching the light distribution is relatively low on the straight road, the switching of the light distribution on the straight path is suppressed, and the trouble for the driver can be prevented.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably prevent dazzling with respect to the preceding vehicle by increasing the speed of switching the light distribution pattern with respect to the change of the vehicle position and the speed of the swivel control on the curved road, while the own vehicle It becomes possible to secure the illumination of the front area and improve the visibility. Further, since the light distribution pattern switching speed and the swivel control speed are relatively low on the straight road, switching of the light distribution on the straight road is suppressed, and troublesomeness for the driver can be prevented. Further, in the present invention, the means for following control of the light distribution is means for following control of the light blocking area provided in a part of the light distribution with respect to the oncoming vehicle. While ensuring high visibility of the front area of the vehicle.

The conceptual block diagram of embodiment of the light distribution control apparatus of this invention. The schematic block diagram of the headlamp of this embodiment. The figure explaining the setting of the light distribution pattern by the left and right headlamps. The figure which shows the example of a setting of responsiveness. The flowchart of the light distribution control in this embodiment. The schematic diagram which shows an example of the light distribution control with respect to the front vehicle in a straight road. The schematic diagram which shows an example of the light distribution control with respect to the front vehicle in a curved road.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual configuration diagram of a light distribution control device in which the present invention is applied to a headlamp of an automobile. A left headlamp LHL and a right headlamp RHL are mounted on the left and right of the front part of the vehicle, respectively, and the light distribution control device 100 controls the light distribution of these headlamps LHL and RHL. The left and right headlamps LHL and RHL have basically the same configuration. For example, as shown in the right headlamp RHL in FIG. 2, a lamp housing including a lamp body 11 and a translucent front cover 12. A projector-type lamp unit 2 is housed inside 1. Although this lamp unit 2 is not described in detail here, a light source 21 comprising a discharge bulb, a spheroidal reflector 22, a projection lens 23 disposed in front of the reflector 22, and a projection lens 23 Is provided with a variable shade 24 for forming a light distribution pattern of light projected from. The lamp unit 2 is supported by a bracket 3 disposed in the lamp housing 1 and is configured to be swivel controlled in the left-right direction by the swivel actuator 4, that is, to be able to deflect the light irradiation direction to the left and right. The variable shade 24 includes a plurality of light shielding plates 242 having different shapes on the peripheral surface of the cylindrical main shaft 241, and the rotational position of the variable shade 24 is variable by the shade actuator 5 in the direction around the axis. Yes. By changing this rotational position, the light shielding plate 242 located on the lamp optical axis is changed, and the light distribution pattern of the light projected from the lamp unit 2 can be changed. The discharge bulb 21 is electrically connected to the discharge circuit unit 6 and lit.

  FIG. 3 shows the light distribution pattern of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL controlled by the variable shade 24 and the light distribution pattern of the headlamp as a whole by superimposing the light distribution patterns of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL. FIG. In the right headlamp RHL of the horizontal frame in the figure, a high beam light distribution RH without a cut-off line is formed at the first rotation position of the variable shade 24, and a low beam light distribution RL having a cut-off line is formed at the third rotation position. Further, in the second rotation position, a right-side high beam distribution in which the right region is a high beam distribution and the left region is a low beam distribution, here a light distribution RM, which is abbreviated as a right piece high distribution, is formed. Similarly, the left headlamp LHL in the vertical frame in the figure forms a high beam light distribution LH, a low beam light distribution LL, and a left piece high light distribution LM according to the rotational position of the variable shade 24. Thereby, as a whole headlamp, by superimposing the light distribution of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL, as shown in the figure, a high beam light distribution Hi, a low beam light distribution Lo, a right piece high light distribution RHi, Illumination is performed by the left high light distribution LHi, and further by the split light distribution SP in which the right piece high light distribution and the left piece high light distribution are superimposed and the center is concave. As for the high beam light distribution Hi, high beam light distribution having different light intensity distributions can be obtained by superimposing the lights of the left and right headlamps.

  Referring to FIG. 1 again, the light distribution control device 100 detects other vehicles existing on the front road, that is, the vehicle detection unit 101 that detects the vehicle type and vehicle position of the front vehicle, and the front road on which the vehicle travels. The road determination unit 102 outputs road information that determines whether the detected road is a straight road or a curved road. Further, the light distribution control device 100 determines the light distribution pattern of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL of the own vehicle based on the detected vehicle position, and controls the light distribution pattern of the lamp unit 2 to the determined light distribution pattern. An ADB control unit 103 and a swivel control unit that determines the optical axes of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL, that is, the irradiation direction based on the detected vehicle position, and drives the swivel actuator 4 based on the irradiation direction. 104 is provided. Further, the light distribution control device 100 is a responsiveness control for controlling the change of the light distribution pattern in the ADB control unit 103 and the swivel control speed in the swivel control unit 104 based on the road information determined by the road determination unit 102. Part 105 is provided.

The vehicle detection unit 101 and the road determination unit 102 are connected to an imaging camera CAM that captures an area in front of the host vehicle. The vehicle detection unit 101 detects the position of the vehicle ahead based on the image captured by the imaging camera CAM. There are various methods for detecting the vehicle position. For example, the positions of lights such as head lamps and tail lamps provided on the left and right sides of the vehicle, the left and right end positions of the vehicle body of the vehicle, and the left and right lamp positions. Also, the center position of the left and right end positions is detected as the vehicle position. In this embodiment, the forward vehicle detection unit 101 detects a vehicle type indicating whether the forward vehicle is a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle. For example, when the light color of the vehicle ahead is red, it is detected as a preceding vehicle, and when it is white, it is detected as an oncoming vehicle.

The road determination unit 102 analyzes the image captured by the imaging camera CAM to detect a road ahead of the host vehicle, determines whether the detected road is a straight road or a curved road, and uses this as road information. Output as. For example, although detailed description is omitted, the shape of the road ahead is recognized by image analysis, the radius of curvature on the plane of the recognized road is calculated, and this radius of curvature is applied to a preset determination map, By comparing with a reference value TH [see FIG. 4A] set in the determination map, it is detected whether the road is a straight road or a curved road. In this case, as a matter of course, it is also detected whether the road ahead is a right curve or a left curve. Further, as will be described later, a plurality of different reference values may be set as reference values in the determination map, and the curved path may be divided into a plurality of curved paths and detected. Further, the reference value TH may have a required width, that is, hysteresis, so that stable road determination can be obtained.

In this embodiment, the road determination unit 102 is connected to a steering angle sensor Sθ that detects the steering angle of the host vehicle, and the host vehicle is currently present based on the steering angle θ detected by the steering angle sensor Sθ. It is also possible to detect whether the traveling road is a straight road or a curved road. Further, instead of determining the road ahead based on the image captured by the imaging camera CAM, the curvature radius of the road ahead is obtained based on the information obtained from the navigation device or the road information obtained from the traffic system. A straight path and a curved path may be determined based on the radius.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the ADB control unit 103 independently controls the shade actuators 5 of the variable shades 24 of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL based on the vehicle position detected by the vehicle detection unit 101. As described above, the right headlamp RHL can be switched to the light distribution patterns RH, RL, and RM, and the left headlamp LHL can be switched to the light distribution patterns LH, LL, and LM. At this time, the light distribution pattern is switched in consideration of the vehicle type detected by the vehicle detection unit 101. Therefore, by superimposing the light distribution of the left and right headlamps LHL, RHL, the light distribution of the entire headlamp is high beam distribution Hi, low beam distribution Lo, right piece high light distribution RHi, left piece high light distribution LHi, It can be controlled to one of the split light distribution SPs.

  The swivel control unit 104 inputs the vehicle position detected by the vehicle detection unit 101 through the ADB control unit 103, drives the swivel actuators 4 of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL following the vehicle position, and The LHL and RHL lamp units 2 are swiveled to the left and right. That is, the swivel control unit 104 swivels to the left and right so that the center position of the light distribution pattern set in the ADB control unit 103, that is, the direction of the irradiation optical axis has a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the preceding vehicle. ing. In particular, in swivel control, the optical axis position is set so that the vertical cut-off line in each of the right high light distribution RM of the right headlamp RHL and the left high light distribution LM of the left headlamp LHL does not overlap the preceding vehicle. It is possible to control.

  The responsiveness control unit 105 determines the road information determined by the road determination unit 102, in this case, when the front road is determined to be a straight road and to the case where the road is determined to be a curved road. That is, the light distribution switching speed when switching the light distribution pattern and the swivel control speed when performing the swivel control are configured to be switched. FIG. 4A is a characteristic diagram of the control speed in the responsiveness control unit 105, in which the light distribution switching speed on the curved road is set higher than the light distribution switching speed on the straight road. That is, the radius of curvature as the reference value TH shown in the figure corresponds to the reference value used in the road determination unit 102, and the straight road and the curved road are separated from each other with the reference value TH as a boundary. It is different. For example, when this control speed is the swivel control speed, the swivel control speed on the curved road is set higher than the swivel control speed on the straight road. Therefore, on the curved road, the irradiation optical axis is controlled to change at a high speed with respect to the change in the vehicle position. Set. The responsiveness control unit 105 can also be configured to switch the responsiveness in consideration of the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor SV of the host vehicle. The response characteristics shown in FIG. 4 (a) are preferably set after measuring an appropriate speed in advance assuming various driving situations such as differences in the vehicle speed of the host vehicle.

  The operation of the light distribution control device 100 according to the embodiment having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of light distribution control. The vehicle detection unit 101 detects a vehicle existing ahead based on the captured image signal, and detects the vehicle position of the detected vehicle (S11). Then, the detected vehicle position is output to the ADB control unit 103. The ADB control unit 103 controls the light distribution of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL based on the detected vehicle position (S12). For example, when the vehicle position is in the vicinity of the vehicle in the straight traveling direction, the left and right headlamps are each set to one high light distribution. That is, the right headlamp RHL has a right high light distribution RM, and the left headlamp LHL has a left high light distribution LM. As a result, the split light distribution SP in which the light distributions of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL are superimposed is controlled. When the detected vehicle position is biased to the left or right, at least one of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL is set to low beam light distribution. For example, when the vehicle position is detected on the left side, the right headlamp RHL remains in the right high light distribution RM, and the left headlamp LHL is in the low beam light distribution LL. Alternatively, the light distribution of both headlamps is a low beam light distribution. Thereby, the light distribution of the entire headlamp is a single high light distribution or a low beam light distribution, preventing dazzling of the vehicle existing on the left side, while ensuring the visibility of the right region. Needless to say, when the vehicle position is detected on the right side, light distribution control opposite to the right and left is performed.

  On the other hand, the road determination unit 102 inputs an image signal of the front area of the host vehicle imaged by the imaging camera CAM, detects a road ahead in this image signal (S13), and the detected road is a straight road or a curved road. It is determined which one (S14). Here, the curvature radius of the road detected from the image signal is obtained by calculation, and this curvature radius is compared with the reference value TH defined in the determination map. When the curvature radius is equal to or greater than the reference value, it is detected that the road is a straight road. When it is smaller than the reference value, it is detected as a curved road. The detected road information, that is, information on a straight road or a curved road is output to the responsiveness control unit 105.

  The responsiveness control unit 105 responds to the light distribution control based on the road information input from the road determination unit 102, that is, the speed for switching the light distribution pattern following the vehicle position and the speed for swiveling the irradiation optical axis. Switch. Here, when the road is a straight road (S14), the speed at which the light distribution is switched in response to a change in the position of the vehicle is set to a low speed that is a minimum speed that does not dazzle the vehicle (S15). . On the other hand, in the case of a curved road, the speed is made higher than that in the case of a straight road so as to quickly switch the light distribution (S16). Then, the swivel control unit 104 executes swivel control at the set speed (S17). In this light distribution control flow, an example is shown in which the ADB control unit 103 does not set the light distribution pattern switching speed at a higher speed on a curved path than on a straight path.

  Therefore, the ADB control unit 103 controls the light distribution of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL to a required light distribution pattern according to the vehicle position of the preceding vehicle, and the swivel control unit 104 follows the change in the vehicle position. The irradiation direction is controlled by swiveling the irradiation optical axis. This makes it possible to increase the visibility by widely illuminating the front area of the host vehicle without dazzling the preceding vehicle. At this time, the swivel speed of the curved road is higher than that of the straight road, so that the dazzling of the preceding vehicle due to the delay of the change control of the light distribution cut-off line is prevented, and the driver is assigned to the driver. It is possible to eliminate the annoyance of light change.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6A, when the road determination unit 102 determines a straight road and the vehicle detection unit 101 detects an oncoming vehicle CAR in front of the host vehicle, the ADB control unit 103 sets the light distribution pattern. Assume that a split light distribution SP is set. At this time, the responsiveness control unit 105 sets the responsiveness to the minimum swivel control speed necessary for dazzling the oncoming vehicle. When the oncoming vehicle CAR approaches as shown in FIG. 6B, the right headlamp is switched to the low beam light distribution LL, and the left and right headlamps are swiveled to the right in accordance with the oncoming vehicle. Set to left high distribution LHi. At this time, the speed at which the swivel control is performed in the right direction following the oncoming vehicle CAR is a low speed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6 (c), when the next oncoming car CAR2 is detected in the vicinity of the straight traveling direction of the host vehicle, swivel control is performed in the direction in which the left-side high light distribution LHi is returned to the left. Since the swivel control in the right direction of the one-high light distribution LHi has a low speed and the swivel amount is small as shown by the broken line in the figure, the movement amount of the swivel control in the left direction with respect to the next oncoming vehicle CAR2 is small. The driver of the vehicle does not feel annoyance.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7A, the road determination unit 102 determines a curved road, for example, a right curved road, and the vehicle detection unit 101 detects the oncoming car CAR slightly to the right of the vehicle's straight direction. . The ADB control unit 103 sets the left piece high light distribution LHi. In this situation, the vehicle is steered to the right as the host vehicle enters the right curve, so the vehicle position of the oncoming vehicle CAR rapidly changes to the left with respect to the host vehicle. At this time, since the responsiveness control unit 105 sets the control speed of the swivel control to be higher than that in the case of the straight road, the swivel control unit 104 swivels the light distribution in the left direction at a high speed as shown in FIG. To do. This reliably prevents dazzling on the oncoming vehicle CAR that moves rapidly to the left. If it is assumed that the swivel control speed is the same as that of the straight road, a delay occurs in the left-side high light distribution LHi moving to the left as shown in FIG. It will be dazzling.

  As described above, the light distribution control device 100 of the embodiment increases the speed of the swivel control with respect to the change of the vehicle position on the curved road, so that the vehicle ahead is also on the curved road where the relative position change with the own vehicle is fast. Therefore, it is possible to maintain an appropriate light distribution and to reliably prevent dazzling with respect to the preceding vehicle, while ensuring illumination of the front area of the host vehicle and improving visibility.

  In the embodiment, an example in which the cut-off line of the light distribution pattern is controlled to follow the vehicle position change of the front vehicle, that is, an example in which the light distribution is swiveled to the left and right has been described, but the vehicle position change of the front vehicle is followed. Of course, the ADB control unit 103 can switch the light distribution patterns of the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL so as to substantially follow the light distribution cut-off line. In other words, in the case of straight roads, frequent switching of light distribution patterns on straight roads can be prevented by switching the light distribution pattern with respect to changes in the vehicle position of the preceding vehicle at a low speed within the necessary range. No one feels annoyed. On the other hand, in the case of a curved road, it is possible to reliably prevent dazzling the oncoming vehicle by performing the switching timing of the light distribution pattern at a high speed.

  Here, in the embodiment, as a method of determining the curved road and the straight road by the road determination unit 102, the road shape is recognized by analyzing the image captured by the imaging camera, and the determination is performed based on the road shape. The determination may be made based on the steering angle θ detected by the steering angle sensor Sθ. That is, since the steering angle θ of the vehicle is naturally deflected to the left and right and becomes a value other than “0” on the curved road, the curved road can be determined by detecting the change in the steering angle θ. Even in this case, it is possible to determine a straight road and a curved road by setting a determination map based on the steering angle θ and applying the steering angle θ to the determination map. Alternatively, when an acceleration sensor, particularly a yaw rate sensor is mounted on the own vehicle, a straight road and a curved road may be determined based on an output signal of the yaw rate sensor.

  In the embodiment, the road determination unit 102 sets one reference value TH in the determination map when determining a curved road and a straight road, and divides the road into two, a straight road and a curved road. As described above, a plurality of reference values may be provided, and roads may be classified into a plurality of sections according to the radius of curvature radius, and responsiveness in light distribution control varies stepwise corresponding to the plurality of classified paths. You may make it make it. For example, as shown in FIG. 4B, a plurality of reference values TH1 to TH3 having different curvature radii are set, and the road is divided into a plurality of curves using these reference values TH1 to TH3. The smaller the curved path, the faster the light distribution pattern switching speed and the swivel control speed may be.

  Further, when setting the responsiveness in the responsiveness control unit 105, that is, the switching speed of the light distribution pattern and the swivel control speed, they may be set by calculation without using the determination map as in the embodiment. For example, information on the steering angle θ of the steering angle sensor Sθ detected by the road determination unit 102 is taken in, and responsiveness is calculated corresponding to the change in the steering angle. That is, since the steering angle has a close relationship with the curvature radius of the road, it is possible to control the responsiveness on the curved road by calculating the responsiveness using the steering angle as a factor. For example, although a detailed description is omitted, a delay circuit composed of a low-pass filter or the like is provided in the control circuit of the ADB control unit 103 or the swivel control unit 104, and the delay coefficient of this delay circuit is based on the steering angle θ. To set. If the delay circuit is set so that the delay coefficient decreases as the steering angle increases, the delay in each control increases on a straight road with a small steering angle, and the delay in each control decreases on a curved road with a large steering angle. As a result, the light distribution control speed on the curved road can be set to be higher than that on the straight road.

  In the present invention, the left and right headlamps LHL and RHL can be swiveled independently of each other. For example, when the vehicle position of the front vehicle is moved and changed in the right direction, the swivel control may not be performed on the left headlamp LHL, and only the right headlamp RHL may be swiveled corresponding to the front vehicle. Even in this case, the swivel control speed when the right headlamp RHL is swiveled is controlled at a higher speed on the curved road than on the straight road, so that the swivel control on the straight road is suppressed and the driver feels troublesome. On the other hand, it is possible to prevent the dazzling of the vehicle ahead on the curved road.

However, in the present invention, when the left and right headlamps are independently controlled in light distribution, the light distribution cut-off line substantially follows the vehicle, particularly when the light distribution pattern is switched or swiveled. In the case of controlling, it is preferable to limit the control in the responsiveness control unit 105, that is, the increase in the control speed on the curved path, considering the following (a) to (d). This is to prevent glare with respect to the preceding vehicle even when the detection processing of the vehicle position of the preceding vehicle occurs in the vehicle detection unit 101, and to ensure the visibility of the front area of the own vehicle. This is because it is required, and the control is a combination of any one or a plurality of (a) to (d). Note that (c) and (d) are applied when the road determination unit 102 determines a curved road having an S-shaped curve on the road.
(A) Control in the direction toward the inside with respect to the headlamp outside the curved path.
(B) Control in the direction toward the outside with respect to the headlamp inside the curved path.
(C) Swivel control in a direction following the preceding vehicle with respect to the headlamp outside the curved road.
(D) Swivel control that follows the vehicle ahead with respect to the headlamps inside and outside the curved road.

  The present invention can be applied to a light distribution device that controls a cut-off line of light distribution by following the vehicle by ADB control, swivel control, or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lamp housing 2 Lamp unit 4 Swivel actuator 5 Shade actuator 24 Variable shade 100 Light distribution control apparatus 101 Vehicle detection part 102 Road determination part 103 ADB control part 104 Swivel control part 105 Responsiveness control part LHL, RHL Headlamp CAM Imaging camera Sθ Steering angle sensor SV Vehicle speed sensor CAR, CAR2 Oncoming vehicle (front vehicle)

Claims (3)

A light distribution control device comprising means for detecting a vehicle position of a vehicle existing in front of the host vehicle and tracking and controlling the light distribution of the headlight of the host vehicle following the detected change in the vehicle position. When the road ahead of the vehicle is determined to be a curved road, the vehicle headlight is provided with responsiveness control means for setting the speed for tracking control of the light distribution to be higher as the curve of the curved road becomes larger. Light distribution control device.   ADB control means for switching the light distribution pattern of the headlamp, and swivel control means for swiveling the irradiation optical axis of the headlamp, wherein the responsiveness control means switches the light distribution pattern in the ADB control means. The light distribution control device for a vehicle headlamp according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a speed and a swivel control speed by the swivel control means is set. The vehicle headlamp according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the means for tracking control of the light distribution is means for tracking control of a light blocking area provided in a part of the light distribution with respect to the oncoming vehicle. Light distribution control device.

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